Being sued by PM, analyst walks out of court, questions judge’s autonomy
Stormy trial for Kim Sok
DURING his turbulent trial yesterday in an incitement and defamation case brought by Prime Minister Hun Sen, political analyst Kim Sok walked out of the Phnom Penh municipal courtroom in protest before being brought back in, only to theatrically plug his ears before the judge.
Much of the two-hour hearing in the case, which could result in fines of up to a half million dollars and jail time, was spent on a newly submitted request by Sok for the premier to testify.
The analyst was hit with two lawsuits in February – one after appearing to insinuate in a Radio Free Asia interview that the government was behind the killing of popular political analyst Kem Ley, who was gunned down in July last year, and the other after publicly attempting to clarify the offending remarks.
Judge Ky Rithy rejected Sok’s request for Hun Sen to appear, saying the prime minister “is already represented by a lawyer”.
The premier’s lawyer, Ky Tech, argued that he was the voice of the prime minister in the case. “I am the complainant,” he said. “[And] how can he request Samdech [Hun Sen] to stand with him?”
When the request CONTINUED was